Arts & Entertainment
Dark waters
Added dimension of water gives added flair to Synetic’s latest
Philip Fletcher, left, and David Istrate in Synetic’s ‘The Tempest.’ (Photo by Johnny Shrycock; courtesy Synetic)
‘The Tempest’
Through March 24
Synetic Theater
1800 S. Bell Street, Arlington
$35-$55
synetictheater.org
As it if it weren’t already daunting enough to silently interpret Shakespeare through stylized moves and gravity-defying vertical jumps, Synetic Theater has now added water to the mix. For its current take on “The Tempest,” the celebrated movement-based company has transformed its Crystal City stage into a lake of shallow dark water with stunning results.
Because the sea is so integral to the island-set romantic dramedy, performing in ankle deep water doesn’t feel all that farfetched. The play opens with Prospero, the disposed Duke of Milan, and his daughter Miranda landing on a remote, strange island. Armed with a magical staff, Prospero conjures a storm, causing his political enemies/estranged family members’ ship to wreck, landing them on the island too. And like a body of water, the story is always changing, whipsawing from splashy merriment to dangerous mystery to contemplative calm.
Paata Tsikurishvili’s lucid staging along with Irina Tsikurishvili’s wildly inventive choreography performed by a cast of impressively fit and mostly graceful young actors, go straight to the essence of the bard’s work, capturing its spirit while invigorating it with sexy, very watchable action. Whether a fight to the death between Prospoero and Caliban’s scary mother Sycorax (Victoria Bertocci) or a big dozen-person brawl, the glorious acrobatic combat scenes are stunningly staged by fight choreographer Ben Cunis.
“The Tempest” is the ninth installment of Synetic’s ongoing Silent Shakespeare Series. No dialogue is spoken. In fact, except for a few grunts and one or two harrumphs, the actors are entirely mute. And while you won’t hear Prospero waxing poetic, “We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep” or treacherous young Sebastian barking “A pox o’ your throat, you bawling, blasphemous, incharitable dog,” you will feel the full of impact of the text. What’s lost in spoken word is made up for in the expressive comedy, anger and poignancy of the movement
Shakespeare wrote “The Tempest” late in his career, incorporating varied influences from his other works. Similarly, the seasoned Synetic rises to the occasion, using its full range of skill in the retelling of this epic tale.
As Prospero, out actor Philip Fletcher convincingly conveys his character’s journey from anger to forgiveness and acceptance. His quietly compelling performance complements showier turns by Vato Tsikurishvili as the wild-eyed, indigenous island red devil Caliban and David Istrate as Prospero’s tender favorite Ariel (played as magically manic with a dash of Nosferatu creepiness by the almost unrecognizable, head-to-toe platinum-painted Synetic regular). And Irinka Kavsadze charmingly plays Miranda as an awkward girl on the precipice of becoming a lovely young woman.
With its expanse of dark water backed by a huge rock with a derelict, water-streaming grand piano to the side, Anastasia Simes’ set is serviceable yet mysteriously dreamy. Ragged curtains suggested torn ship sails and at times seaweed. Andrew F. Griffin lighting design and Riki Kim’s projections effectively create a feel of constant motion, the movement of the sea. Moody and hard driving, Konstantine Lortkipanidze’s original score helps set the scene and propel the fast-paced action forward.
For DC theater-goers, water-filled stages are all the rage around town at the moment. At Arena Stage though Sunday, Mary Zimmerman’s Tony Award-winning adaptation of Ovid’s “Metamorphoses” is being performed in a pool, and like Synetic’s latest, it’s also soaking both actors and a few intrepid front row audience members. Get wet while you can.
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Uncloseted Media published this interview on July 7.
By SPENCER MACNAUGHTON, ISABEL STOKES, and BELLA SAYEGH | After appearing on the 11th season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” the first season of “Canada’s Drag Race: Canada vs. the World,” the sixth season of “RuPaul’s All Stars” and now the 11th season of “All Stars,” Silky Nutmeg Ganache, known by many as the Reverend, is undoubtedly a legend.
Born and raised in Moss Point, Miss., Ganache bears all in this episode of “UNCLOSETED with Spencer Macnaughton.” She speaks about her relationship with gender, her 100-pound weight loss, what it’s like living as a queer person of color in a red state and why she’s calling on allies to stand up for the trans community.
Patrons enjoyed a night out at the popular LGBTQ venue Crush Dance Bar on Friday, July 3.
(Washington Blade photos by Landon Shackelford)
Theater
‘My Favorite Sociopath’ debuts at Shepherdstown’s CATF
Gay playwright Aurin Squire’s take on D.C. journalism in the ‘90s
‘My Favorite Sociopath’
Contemporary American Theater Festival
July 10-Aug. 2
Shepherdstown, W.Va.
Catf.org
Discernment. It’s a thing some people have, explains playwright Aurin Squire, especially when you’re gay or Black in America (Squire is both).
“You instinctively know when the mob is teaming up for the best interests of the powers that be. You can feel it in the air.”
In his sharp new satire “My Favorite Sociopath,” Squire writes about life experiences but set in a different time and place: It’s the 1990s, early days of the 24-hour news cycle, and three ambitious journalism students are pursuing success in D.C.
And now, Squire’s play, along with other new works, are making their world premieres at the annual Contemporary American Theater Festival (CATF) at Shepherd University in historic, queer-friendly Shepherdstown, W.Va. (just a 90-minute drive from D.C.).
“All of my plays are queer in some way,” says Squire, 46. “This one touches on harmless and dangerous lies. The characters are on the spectrum sexually, and it’s interesting how all that falls out.”
And he’s given it a lot of thought.
“Already as a kid, it seemed to me that the rage against rap music and sex was coming from closeted people resisting their own urges and temptations. For me, it was interesting to see a witch hunt led by witches. Queer people can always call out a lie.”
Since September, Squire has also been working with a TV show about the tech industry set in Silicon Valley. He says, “It seems the general flow of the tech industry is that humanity and civilization is finished and it’s just about accumulating as many goods as possible before everything collapses. In fact, those who are profiting actually agree. But for those who disagree, they believe the solution is to build bigger gates, but activists believe we can stop this”
Yet, he’s learned from folks associated with the show. “Many say the quickest way to divorce yourself from any responsibility or regulations — smash and grab. Otherwise, you have to stop and think and regulate your desires for greed and power”
Squire possesses a penchant for pithy titles. He laughs, explaining the first thing he wrote as a student at Juilliard was “Obama-ology,” the comedy with contemporary message. While a lot of people liked the name, it didn’t necessarily vibe with the author. He concedes that he chooses names based on “easy to remember” and titles that won’t be easy to lose as a file.
Another is “Defacing Michael Jackson,” a coming-of-age dramedy set in rural Florida in 1984, specifically Squire’s native town Opa-locka, Miami, a fantastical place famed for its fanciful Moorish revival architecture.
Living in the shadow of exotic structures, he wasn’t particularly fazed. Squire says “It wasn’t until returning to visit after my freshman year at Northwestern University in Chicago that I realized how weird it was: When you grow up in a place, you take surroundings for granted no matter how over the top.”
Now based in New York (where for two happy years, 2017-2019, he shared digs with drag king Murry Hill), Squire returns frequently to Miami to be with family, but this summer has been filled with both work and travel.
Currently, he’s in Shepherdstown with CATF shaping up “My Favorite Sociopath.” Later this summer he will travel to South Africa for research, followed by a silent writing retreat in Santa Fe, N.M.
Much of Squire’s work reflects the Latino, African, Caribbean, African-American, and Jewish cultures he grew up around in South Florida.
When asked if today’s winds of anti-multiculturalism worry him, he replies, “No, because that’s going to pass. Most people don’t like, people are seeing the negative results of it, and the young people coming up despise it. White male gamers were tricked momentarily through the algorithms into voting against their own interests and they’re now seeing how it’s not working out for them.
“Conservatives always try to stop progress and eventually they always lose. It’s just a question of where we’ll be in the middle of the end of civilization before that happens. I’d like to hope we can turn the ship around before then.”
In addition to “My Favorite Sociopath,” CATF summer season features three other world premieres (Lisa D’Amour’s comedy “The Smoker,” “Refugee Rhapsody” by Yussef El Guindi, “Best Line Wins: A Play Inspired by the Improvised Lives of Elaine May & Mike Nichols” by Beth Kander) and “¡VOS!” by Christina Pumariega.
CATF runs from July 10-Aug. 2 in three venues on the Shepherd University campus: Frank Center, Marinoff Theater, and Studio 112.
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